KosmoFoto Mono 100
When looking at films on the internet and in brick n’ mortars (or wood and nail, or wattle and daub, or however they build camera stores in your town) it seems like there are just so many more choices available every year. Come to find out later that these films are often made from existing emulsions that are repackaged as-is or modified and repackaged. KosmoFoto Mono is one of these films. I was sucked in with the wicked cool package design in all its retro Soviet’esque retro space-agey glory. I am a sucker for cool packaging, which is why I bought this film in the first place… well that and because I have this blog here that I populate with stories about all sorts of films I use and where and how, this inspires me to try out new things in an effort to broaden my horizons.
That’s the real purpose here, of course. It’s a further inspiration to take pictures or try out new films or new cameras, or to explore the world around me, then post the photos and make people look at ’em.
So that’s it. It’s Foma 100 with a cooler box. However, that comes with a cost. Do you want to spend $11.00 per roll of this classic emulsion black and white film with an updated package design, or do you want to spend $6.45 per roll on Fomapan Classic and get more or less the same film, just with a less jazzy box and canister? Is this film for you or a gift? Gifts get the cool packaging. How about are you a normal pragmatic consumer, or are you a weirdo who says “Oh hey neat box! And there’s a T-shirt too? Cool shirt! Sell me them both! Nah, changed my mind about the Fomapan, looks blah, and really how good can a 6-dollar roll of film be anyway?”
Guilty. Though to be fair, I didn’t know until after I shot up the roll and starting looking into the history of the film. Also, I didn’t actually buy a T-shirt, but they do exist and they are in fact pretty slick and I can’t promise I’ll never buy one nor can I promise I’ll never buy another roll of KosmoFoto. This product was a passion project of a photo blogger, and I try to spend money on individuals and small companies because I believe in the mission of people trying to do their own thing without being a massive multinational corporation. You should, too. Go to farmers’ markets, craft fairs, small local businesses, and don’t bitch about being able to get it cheaper at fucking Walmargetazon! If I spend just 5 bucks on the individual for every hundred bucks I spend on the Walmargetazonian Machine of Chew Up and Swallow, that’s still a lotta bucks.
I spent the extra dollars and had them hand-delivered to Stephen Dowling, so let’s load the stuff into one of my favorite cameras and see what I can do to squander that 11 bucks! I start by shooting a few things around the house, like my cat Mido as she sits near an open window. She’s not annoyed, by the way, that’s just her face. She has one facial expression, this is it. She’s not the brightest flashbulb, but neither am I, so we make a good team.
After that I take a walk through the Hollywood Cemetery here in Richmond, Virginia, and shoot a few hills, fences and monuments. It’s a little overcast so I don’t shoot too many pics, but even with the less-than-stellar sun the pics look fairly decent. The gravestone pic of Oderus Urungus has some great tones, but many that I shot with less-ideal lighting looked a little less punchy. Back on the bike, I head into town for some lunch and just wander around for a bit, looking for some interesting things to shoot. Seeing just what I can do with this roll of 100-speed consumer-grade B&W film on a somewhat cloudy day.
I develop the film using D-76 at a 1:1 dilution and the result is a mixed bag, but even the less-stellar shots have some nice detail to them. Plenty of depth in the midtones without being too dull, and some good fine grain. I’ve worked with this emulsion before (both in the Foma films and the Arista-EDU films) and am generally pleased with what sort of results I can get with a roll of film that costs less than seven dollars. Today is no exception, except today’s pricetage is $11. My cafe con leche cost me more today than the difference in price between the films, so it’s a pretty easy pricetage to support a small business.
